News Flash!

Pikes Peak at Sunset

"News Flash!

Life has its bumps and bruises but as long as we keep getting up there is hope for us yet." rjm

I just got out of the hospital for the third time in 6 months. Fortunately I was only in for 9 1/2 days this time. A record considering the length of most of them. I had another infection in my blood and they had a heck of a time figuring out where it came from and aren't actually completely sure now. They also had to give me a few units of blood, after they took half my body weight in blood I thought.

I woke from a late nap on Tuesday evening with a 104.9 degree temp and my husband decided it was time to call a doctor which was smart enough to send us straight to the emergency room. The emergency room doctors looked up my history and were quick and got the mega gun antibiotics going right away even without having the blood cultures back.

I am going to keep this hospital and staff on their toes for a long time it looks like because I always have such weird stuff happen and because I intend to be around for a long time yet.

I will have to catch up on my post and on my blogger friends who have been keeping tabs on me even when I don't respond right away. Thanks again for that.

My sister, Brenda and family are finally here and partially moved in but still working on the rooms. Since I ended up in the hospital, some of the prep work I was going to get done wasn't, so they have picked up the ball and are fixing up the rooms themselves. I guess a pro to that is they'll get what they want and I don't have to do the work, ha.

They have already been a great help around the house too, with cooking and laundry so guess I'll keep them for awhile.

Pikes Peak mid April at Memorial Park

This is a short post as I'm in the middle of hemming some pretty pink curtains for Brenda's daughter's room and I am actually trying to get some of the summer outfits sewed up for all the grandkids like I've been planning.

Our garden is growing well and I have corn up a little (except what the dog chewed down), some watermellon leaves, lettuce and spinich, the greenbean plants are really doing well and the cucumbers are peeking through. My husband has spagetti squash, yellow squash, cucumbers, green bell peppers and lots of tomato plants all doing great. I also have two hot pepper plants in the front yard and some return strawberry plants. I just hope the ants and squirels don't get them first.

Pikes Peak Late Evening
Can you tell, I like taking pictures of Pikes Peak? Ok, more later, but after I get a chance to go visiting again in blog land. Take care and smile, someone else may need it!

Spring fever progresses into???

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"The pace we lead in life determines how many little miracles we will miss or enjoy with nature, our family, our friends and even our pets" rjm

I don't know about you all, but my spring fever has turned into a roaring furor of projects and activities. I'm sure I'm overdoing it some, what with all the gardening and sowing the baby plants inside in february even. One problem I keep forgetting to take into account when it comes to these projects of mine, is my energy level which depletes fairly fast and any walking lifting, bending, etc. All needed for decent gardening are very strenuous for me and so I need a chair or other sitting arrangement or getting on my knees to work. Getting on my knees can be difficult when it comes to getting up with an oxygen tank on my back. Most of the time I leave the O2 in the wheelbarrell that I use to transport my tools and plants.

Yesterday and today I have just about gotten all my planting done and then, lo and behold, I couldn't resist buying a few small bushes and ivy plants to find a place for.

I can't say I always think ahead with these kinds of things since I buy it cause I like the way it looks or the color or the perenialness of it, etc. Sometimes I don't take into account that I may be piling up some work for my husband with out his knowledge since I can't do some of the heavy stuff like digging deep holes for bushes and trees. I did that last year buying an apple tree, a pigme something tree and two evergreen type bushes for which I had to do some sweet talking and then bring up the need for holes. Thank goodness he loves me enough to put up with some of my 'surprise' projects. After planting the apple tree in our back yard and seeing it doing well this spring I was getting all excited with the prospects of getting some apples some day. But then my bubble was burst when I found out I needed two of the same kind of tree so they can polinate each other so now I'm in search of a like tree. Too bad I can't remember what the name of it is.

I am excited for all the possible fruits and vegetables we'll have this summer while Brenda is here. I planted; green beans, spinish, lettuce, onions, I already have some onions and garlic in the garden from last year, cucumbers, watermelon, corn, banana peppers and yellow sweet green peppers. My husband planted lots of tomato plants, spagetti squash, yellow squash, bell peppers and I'm not sure what all else. I sure hope it overflows this year.

Some family sharing Mother's Day Lunch

I had a fantastic Mother's day and enjoyed seeing my mom during the week at the park, then lunch with my husbands family on Sunday at Olive Garden and then going to my daughters that same evening for our families famous Spanish Cassarole, yumm. Of course we were plenty full by the time we went to bed on Sunday night.

Mariah ready to be a painting artists model
One of my granddaughter's loves to pose for pictures and when she and her mom came by our house after going to her girlscouts 'tea party' where the girls had to all dress up and learn table manners and how to set the table and numerous other fun stuff. Before she left we took a few pictures to remember the day.

Ah, a natural
I am hoping to take Mariah to see the new Hannah Montana Movie that's out. She's quite the fan and I've seen and heard good things about the movie too.
Katie modeling her new galashes

The day before Mother's day Amber and I went to my neices wedding shower and it was exactly that with yummy snacks too. This fun picture is Katie showing off her new galashes that someone gave her since after the wedding she is moving to Michigan to be with her new husband. I guess they will probably come in handy there.

Me and my neice Katie Jayne

Now, to top this off, as many of you already know, my sister Brenda and her family are coming to live with us for how ever long it takes while they get situated in a new state, a new town, and new jobs and eventually a new home. I am so excited, but I am also trying to get many little projects done before they get here so they'll have at least comfortable quarters to settle in. My dad is coming up in a few hours so maybe we'll at least have lighting in the room. The old wiring and lights are disfunctional to say the least and were tailored for the old seventies look with indirect lighting pointing to the ceiling, etc. which didn't leave much to be desired even when it worked.

One other great piece of news is that this weekend my husband and I get to go to Denver to babysit our newest grandson Tyler. He just had the skin under his tounge clipped to help him suckle and it should help with his speech later on too. While they had him under, they ended up putting tubes in in ears since he's had alot of fluid built up in them for several weeks already. They usually don't do that in babies so young, a little over 3 months, but ear infections and the need for tubes runs in the family and the docs decided it would help alleviate more problems later on to do it now. Anyway, he is feeling better and his parents will get a much needed break to go to a movie and eat lunch with some friends. I think they forgot how to do that!

Thought for the Day;

"A please now and then really doesn't hurt!" I saw this sign and just had to smile. I stopped too at the consternation of the driver behind me as I pulled out my camera to take a snapshot before moving on.

I am once again late at updating my blog. This time not from illness but because my computer was so overloaded with pictures and stuff that it just couldn't compute anymore. I have spent the last 2-3 weeks cleaning out, organizing and creating backup disks for everything I want to keep. I have a 58 gig computer and I had used almost 40 gig with stuff. Since I have alot of programs and even junk that I can't figure out how to get rid of, there wasn't much space left for computer thinking room. Everything took forever to do and my email and internet finally just locked up. What a mess, but now I have all but about 10 gig free. Yea!

Just before heading to surgery

Well, incase you haven't read Amber's blog, my son David went in for his (hopefully) first and last major surgery to remove the rest of his melanoma cancer. They found a small spot on the inside of his left hip area that they had to remove and since they couldn't find anymore, they went ahead and removed his apendix while they were at it. He is doing pretty well so far but sure does want to get back home. I am hoping to go up tomorrow and visit him and bring him a homemade pepperoni pizza. Mr. Green Jeans modernized!

He insists he can't and won't eat any hospital food there cause he can't stand it. I think it wouldn't be so bad this time, but he is remembering how bad it tasted when he was on all of that strong kemo medicine all last fall.

David, Izaiah and girlfriend

Well, my sister Brenda and her family will be here to stay in just a few weeks and I'm really excited and jazzed about it. Grace, her daughter, is the same age as Mariah and they will be able to spend some quality time with her this summer which will help Grace to transition and feel more comfortable with the move I hope. I'm not worried about Brenda transitioning cause she's so ready to be here she won't even notice real life worries for awhile because she'll be so happy to be here already.

Here is a fun picture of one of my grandsons, Evan at mealtime when I was babysitting him last week. As you can tell, he fully enjoys his eating. He was so hungry he was going at it with two utensils. Evan at meal time!

Of course his abilities falter somewhat compared to his gusto, especially when it came to the peas. fingers do nicely for those little guys.


Just to end this up, I'm posting these pictures from around my area. The skies have been beautiful and the mountains of course majestic.
A snowly bluff near Castle Rock

Pikes Peak in April Sunshine

Pink Clouds at Sunset Pikes Peak near Sunset

HAPPY EASTER

Easter is upon us. Here is a little project I have been working on and it turned out pretty cute.

Amber and her kids are doing something pretty similar and hopefully she will display the grandkids works of art on her blog soon.

I took some raw eggs and broke quarter size or larger holes in the top and removed all the yolk and whites. Then I rinsed them and let them dry.

In the meantime I started making the little chicks, using colorful fuzzy balls, googly eyes along with felt and a little glue. An easy and inexpensive fun project that kids can do too.

Then I painted the outside of the egg shell (I forgot and did it after I glued it into the yellow egg carton sections). The grass I cut from felt and glued around the carton and in a few I placed a few tiny silk flowers.

I made just enough for each grandchild that I'll be able to see soon and 2 mamas.

I am going to TRY to get busy and make each of the grandkids some summer outfits. Here are some of my patterns.

A couple of them can be used for more than one child since there are so many of them. I hope I can finish them in time to get some use out of them this summer. I'll have them model them when I'm finished eventually. Patterns for Summer.

Then, the other day the weather was just so beautiful I just had to get Myrtle, our bull dogge out for a walk. Since I've been struggling with Shingles in my right leg and the bottom of my right foot, it has been difficult to do much walking, even with plenty of pain pills on board. My foot has seemed a little better the last few days so I gulped a pill and off we went to the Fountain Creek Park. We walked almost half way around the little pond with some stops at two very handy park benches for me to get off my foot a little while. I had packed a little picnic lunch and we munched it down as I rested. I always bring her a slice of bologna and she even shared a few bites of my strawberries. It was fun though and she loves it. Myrtle didn't get much actual exercise but she got plenty of sniffing time in and I let her get into the water a few minutes too but it was pretty cold still and she got right back out in a jiffy. I always love looking at Pikes Peak and right now it has a wonderful snow cap so I took a picture of it before we headed back for the car.
Pikes Peak Snow Capped

At home the daffodils and crocusis and even the irises are coming up. I snapped a picture of one of them just coming up and blooming wide.

On Sunday I was surprised with a drop in visit of my previous foster daughter who I still think of as one of my daughters and she still calls me Mom.

She lived with me for 5 1/2 years from the age of almost 13 until 18. Her brother, James lived with me for 7 years until he emancipated also. I had guardianship of both of them and so they were truly a part of our family and still are.
Cerena's son, Ben, is just slightly younger than Mariah. (Another grandchild for me) He is a sweet boy and quite shy but he eventually warms up. I am so happy she keeps in touch with us and makes a point of calling and coming by so we can still feel like we are a part of her life. It is one of the rewards of fostering , when they come back! Adopting is also rewarding and sometimes painful just like any parenting situations when children find new and sometimes harmful ways of living. Anyway, I really enjoyed their visit.

Yesterday we had 3 nephews aged 11, 7 and 5 come and have a sleepover with us. They are very energetic but great behaved boys and it was a blast. We had planned on our grandson, Ethan, 4 1/2 joining us but he's been sick all week with a viral fever, etc and wasn't up to it.

The boys kept us busy and we started off our evening making personal pizzas. I had the dough ready and rising when they arrived and then they each had to spread their ball of dough out and top it with whatever they liked the best. Here is a picture of two of them 'guarding' the oven and their own ready to eat pizzas. After supper we made individual cakes in a mug with a special recipie that only takes 3 minutes in a microwave to cook. Yumm. I add the recipie at the bottom of my post.

After dessert we looked through my box of foreign coins and bills and very old American coins including a 1898 penny that was apparently tossed in the air and shot with a low caliber gun, probaby a 22 that left it dented with the shape and size of the penny. They also enjoyed holding a 14th century bronze brestshield piece from New Mexico area that a Spaniard apparently had on their armor.

Then came games, like good old 'Battle Ships'

And Lincoln Logs

and today we made more little Easter chicks and went to the Pioneer Museum in downtown Colorado Springs. Of course my husband had to take the oldest nephew to go to the "Man Store", which is what I call all of those wildlife and outdoor sports places that cater to fishermen and hunters and campers, and etc. I wouldn't be calling it a man store since I love doing all of the above too, but it just fits for my 'man' husband and many others I'm sure. Anyway, in all we had a great time.

Here is that very Yummy recipie:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons baking/unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 extra large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. (I used 'high' and it did just fine)
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

(It's a large chunk of cake and my husband and I shared halves and added a scoop of ice cream. Super chocolately and Yummy!

Thought for the Day:

"Everyday holds exactly the energy and happiness that we put into it." RJM

Home Made and Home Grown

Thought for the Day!

"Old and New may seem ages apart but when accepted and tried, usually good can be found in both!" RJM

Home Made Bread! Modern and Early Nineteen Hundreds kinds!

Last week my husband got into a baking mode (one he get's into every so often) and decided to make some raisen bread. He uses the breadmaker I got him for Christmas several years ago and he makes some of the most wonderful breads, yumm. He started out making breads with the boxed kits that were recommended by the makers but he quickly graduated into making his own recipes he's found in some of the cooking books he's bought for himself.

I'm not sure what caused him to suddenly get a hankering for baking breads but I know he was great at coming up with some wonderful meals during the stretches of time that I've been laid up with my medical stuff. This loaf raised over 7 inches and when I sliced 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices of bread I had to then cut them in half to eat or for the toaster because they were so big.

I love homemade bread like my grandma's. I got her to show me how to make her special down home bread and rolls that she raised 9 kids (six boys) and a hungry husband on. It is wonderfully full and yummy but it takes some kneading which definitely made her a strong woman. She didn't use measuring cups or spoons, only a gallon bowl and her hands and eyes to measure. She taught me her technique step by step and I wrote it down and eventually put in the "Pikes Peak Foster Adopt Support Group Cook Book" that we made years ago.

Here is her recipie for those hardy enough to try it sometime. Me and my kids and foster kids made many loaves of it one Christmas time and gave the loaves away for gifts to family and friends. Instructions: Spread with real butter, homemade applebutter or jam. Fantastic and definitely not on the list for strict diet minded.

Grandma Cline's Bread

(makes 2 large loaves)

Use a 1 qt bowl

1 qt warm water

2 pkgs fresh yeast

Use a 1 gallon mixing bowl

Pour in sifted or unsifted flour until almost full, then make a deep well in the middle of the bowl of flour.

1 Tbl shortning

1/2 c. sugar

1 Tbl salt

Disolve yeast in warm water until it rises to surface. pour the yeast into the flour well and add remaining ingredients.

Stir in - in layers from well toward outside of bowl.

After mixture is formed into a ball of dough, knead 500 strokes, adding flour as needed. (This can be done on a lightly floured table or counter top). Add only a little flour at a time as needed to keep from sticking. You don't want to make the dough too stiff.

Grease the same bowl and place dough in to rise. Set in a warm place and cover with a clean cloth.

Let rise 2 hours. Punch and pan in greased bread loaf pans or pull dough into small fist sized balls and place side by side in greased cake pans for rolls.

Let rise till double in bulk.

Bake 350 degrees

Lg Loaves - bake 1 hr

Med and Sm loaves - 45 min

Rolls - 1/2 hr.

Submitted by Reva J. McCandless

Guaranteed to be delicious

______________________________________

Notes from Home:

Our young Granddaughter who is autistic spent some time with us last weekend with her little sister and we had a grand time. She sure does enjoy my exercise ball and can navigate it all over the living area.

She is doing really well in school and at home now. When I asked her to color me a picture she immediately wrote her name and her age in color crayons and then jumped up as if her school assignment was all done.

Coloring just for fun isn't really her thing so far but at least she complied and tried for me. When I asked her to draw me a happy face she wasn't too sure until I said to draw a happy face of me, then she did and asked if it was happy face and she said 'definitively', "YOU." She told me!

Notes on my son David:

He went to Denver on Friday for the results of his last Pet Scan last Monday and they said there was nothing to be found in his neck (DID YOU HEAR THAT?) There was NOTHING in his lymph nodes in his neck. There are however, some tumors in his stomach that they will have to take out on April 27th. They are apparently pretty confident so we are hoping for the best and feel much better about things since the lymph nodes are clear at this time which is the most serious and since the spots that were in his lung are gone too, he definitely has a much better chance of beating this thing all together. YEA!

Here is how my wayward cancer surviver is looking now adays, along with his almost cousin (my best friends daughter). They have known each other since Stephanie was born a little over a year after he was. Soon I will post a picture of the two of them as they were in my oldest daughters wedding as ring bearer and flower girl. You would never have guessed they'd end up looking like this. Note the green hair. Also his hair has come back in very curyly after he lost it all from the chemo treatments. Stephanie just decided to shave her's all off.

Now David is trucking around the neighborhood on his new wheels, which aren't street licenced of course but so 'cool' with all the younger teenagers. At least he's only driving in side neighborhoods and not on maid streets with lots of traffic. What do ya say to a nineteen year old with ideas of his own. Right now I just stay out of the way except to pray for him and love him and let him know I care.

Actually, I can't stand 'crotch rockets' because I not only have heard of the deaths these cause but I've witnessed what happens. Several years ago I took my kids and foster kids on a drive down my old memory lanes and went to Pueblo to show them the places and schools I went to. As I stopped to talk to a homeowner about the area we were in, we heard a revving of a motorcycle engine several times, approaching from a distance. Suddenly, as the gears rachetted up once again we heard 1/2 half a block behind us a horribly loud crash and crunching sound. I glanced in my rearview mirror long enough to see red fenders and bike parts flying and spinning on the pavement. We turned around and found an old pickup truck with an old man at the wheel looking stunned and not sure what was happening. People were around the bed of the pickup helping the motorcycle driver.

The pickup turned left across the other lane, heading for his house. He never saw or heard the motorcycle who was speeding extrememly up a darkly tree shaded street on a red crotch rocket. (The drivers are laying forward just like a bullet ready to fly). He hit the right passenger door of the pickup while still shifting up on his gears. He flew over the bike, through the open passenger window of the pickup and out the small back window glass (no helmet by the way). If he had hit the old man, I'm sure the man wouldn't have lived. The young motorcyclist had just turned eighteen and graduated from highschool the day before and the bike was a gift from his parents. He of course died the next day. I cried everyday foar awhile over that. I hoped my kids would have heard and seen the message that day on the dangers of those kinds of bikes.

Notes of my Best Friend:

Now for one more picture of my best friend that I've known for 25 years and we've done foster kids and adoptive kids together and we co-founded the 501C3 non profit support group I mentioned above and ran it in some capacity for 5 years and kept our fingers in it even longer. She is the one I made the wedding cake for that is shown at the bottom of my blogging page here. She and Ray were married August of 2007.